Mexico vs South Africa: Share of the world's population with formal basic education
Mexico
5.1%
in 2020
South Africa
5.4%
in 2020
Mexico rank
8th
South Africa rank
6th
Share of the world's population with formal basic education over time
- Mexico
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 5.4% against 5.1% in Mexico, a difference of 0.3%.
Across all 15 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.
Mexico ranks 8th and South Africa ranks 6th of 25 countries.
South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Mexico | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 45.8% | 53.7% | 7.9% | South Africa |
| 1960s | 38.3% | 43.4% | 5.0% | South Africa |
| 1970s | 28.8% | 32.3% | 3.6% | South Africa |
| 1980s | 20.2% | 22.7% | 2.5% | South Africa |
| 1990s | 13.6% | 15.4% | 1.7% | South Africa |
| 2000s | 9.4% | 10.3% | 0.9% | South Africa |
| 2010s | 6.3% | 6.6% | 0.3% | South Africa |
| 2020s | 5.1% | 5.4% | 0.2% | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the world's population with formal basic education, Mexico or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 5.4% against 5.1% in Mexico as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the world's population with formal basic education between Mexico and South Africa?
- 0.3%, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Mexico and South Africa?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Mexico and South Africa rank globally for share of the world's population with formal basic education?
- Mexico ranks 8th and South Africa ranks 6th of 25 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Bank (2024); van Zanden, J. et al.; Wittgenstein Centre (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the world's population with formal basic education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Share of people aged 15 or older who have not received some kind of formal primary, secondary, or tertiary education.